Genesis 34

When God writes his story, he does not communicate in bullet points. He writes his story in the lives of people who learn how to love and trust him through blessing and success, through pain and failure. Today, we’re considering Genesis 34 that relates a tragic account about Jacob’s daughter.

Genesis 34:1
Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land.

Jacob and his family were living in Shechem, located in the central highlands of Canaan, on a heavily traveled road. Like most cities of its day, it was unwalled with no fortification.[1]

As the patriarch, Jacob was responsible for instructing his family not to interact with the Canaanites. They were to morally safeguard themselves from the surrounding pagan nations. Did Jacob clearly teach that basic truth to his family?  Did he know Dinah was intrigued with the women of the land and engaging with them? Was this a one-day excursion for Dinah or had she been making regular visits with the women of Shechem? We don’t know the full details to answer these questions, but we do know that Dinah was alone, away from her family’s protection, when she was sexually assaulted. This statement is not to blame Dinah for what happened. Absolutely not. However, it is apparent that she was in a potentially dangerous situation.

Genesis 34:2-4
And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. ³ And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴ So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

Shechem raped Dinah. The prince of the land used his social and physical power, took her by force to an isolated place, and committed the violent act. Dinah was humiliated. The Hebrew word means “to defile,” “to violate,” “to shame, “to afflict.” Along with this despicable offense, Dinah faced an uncertain future.  In that day, a victim of rape would have no expectation of marriage.

Jacob’s reaction is surprising. When he heard that his daughter had been defiled, he “held his peace” until his sons came in from the fields. Jacob’s response seems to be muted, but his sons were “indignant and very angry.” The Hebrew word translated indignant means to be “hurt or grieved.” They were incensed. Their anger was hot. Dinah’s brothers recognized that an outrageous evil had been done. From the passage, we see Jacob’s sons taking the lead. It seems in this situation, Jacob relinquishes his leadership role in his family.

To further show Shechem’s depraved state, he desired the woman he had violated. His “soul was drawn to Dinah . . . He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.” What an appalling turn of events. The one he had forced himself upon, he now spoke of romantically, with reason and consideration. So Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife” (Gen. 34:4). In a bold and brash move, Hamor addressed Jacob and his sons.

Genesis 34:8-12
But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. ⁹ Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” ¹¹ Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹² Ask me for as great a bride-price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”

Notice that Hamor offers no apology for what his son has done. There is no remorse. He is asking that his son be rewarded for his contemptible actions. The bride-price was called a mophar. Normally, a community would have a set price, but Shechem is willing to pay any amount. Simeon and Levi likened his proposition as the payment for a prostitute.

Dinah’s brothers came up with a plan. They answered Shechem and his father, “deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah” (Gen. 34:13). They agreed to give Dinah to Shechem and entertained the proposition of intermarriage on one condition— “that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised” (Gen. 34:15).

Hamor and Shechem liked the proposal. They went to the city gate to persuade their fellow countrymen to accept it, spinning the supposed benefits to their advantage. When Hamor and Shechem tried to convince Dinah’s brothers to sell her to them, they promised that Jacob’s family would gain prosperity in the land. Now, when they were making a case for circumcision, they said, “Will not their livestock, their property, and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us” (Gen. 34:23). They were successful in convincing every male to be circumcised.

Genesis 34:25-29
On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away. ²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. ²⁸ They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. ²⁹ All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

Why did Jacob’s sons kill all the men instead of just Shechem and possibly Hamor? They must have held every male responsible for not speaking out against Shechem, and carried the plot to the extreme, enacting a massacre. Besides killing the males, they plundered the city, took all the livestock, and took children and wives captive.

Jacob did not demonstrate leadership through these terrible events affecting his family. He was, at best, indecisive, at worst, indifferent. Some have wondered if Dinah had been Rachel’s daughter, would Jacob have acted differently? He allowed his sons to take charge, make the deal, and carry out the bloodbath. He didn’t step up. Certainly, justice needed to be served, but his sons, led by Simeon and Levi, were controlled by their exacting vengeance. Jacob’s indecisiveness or indifference now turned to fear.

Genesis 34:30-31
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” ³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

From the rape of Dinah to the carnage Jacob’s sons inflicted on the men living in Shechem, there is little that is commendable in this chapter. But there is a highlighted lesson for every father. It seems that Jacob was more concerned about personal safety than the defilement of Dinah and the horrible actions of his sons. Jacob’s lack of leadership after learning what happened to Dinah set the stage for his sons’ brutal retaliation. Passive leadership is no leadership at all.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Genesis 34. As you read this chapter, focus on Jacob’s response. How could he have responded in a way that honored Dinah and protected his sons from committing a grievous sin of retribution?

Talking to God
Talk to God about your leadership as a parent. Is it passive? Ask God to help you lead as a servant and demonstrate godly strength and courage.

Have Questions?
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[1] Archeology Study Bible (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2017), 59.